The best HIKE IN camping near
Westel , TENNESSEE

This state park is one of the best maintained and managed I have ever stayed in.  There are also many activities and beautiful scenery to take in!  I stayed in the B loop camping area.  This loop seems to be preferable to loop C which has sites much closer together.   The Nature Center and Cane Creek Falls (near nature center) are must-sees.  There are many other waterfalls in the park as well as hiking and mountain biking trails.  Also a big lake for fishing and kayaking.  The showers/bathrooms in the B loop are not luxurious, but, are clean and nice.

This is a campground with lots of trees and water front lots but seems like the prime areas are filled with long term campers, so much for the 14 day limit, no openings for the weekenders near the beach area and only a couple of waterfront sites are available. The road is rutted and potholes thru out and our neighbors ran their generator all night, very loud considering I was in a tent. I’ll probably stay again but not my top choice.

Well maintained, large campground. Plenty of bathroom/shower facilities located around the campground; clean and functional. Lots of good hiking nearby, as well as other outdoor activities (that I didn’t do). Informative visitor’s center with helpful rangers onsite (even on weekends). Great history lessons about the Big South Fork area, interpretive hikes (which I did do) and fair warning about the ticks.

Nice campground, wide variety of campsites, most of them level. Decent bathhouse/facilities, clean and adequate for the number of folks using them. Nice hiking trails. I didn’t use the other amenities offered at the park and I missed the visitor center being open. The camp store was also closed, but I believe it’s either closed for COVID or just hasn’t opened for the season.

My partner and I headed to nearby Chilhowie Campground in the Cherokee National Forest last year to try out our new teardrop camper.  We chose site 1 in the A Loop as it had shore power. The site was not level and actually had quite an incline which was slightly challenging to level on the sandy pad.   The site itself was nice and roomy.  There were some lovely trees for us to set up our Eno hammock.  The site is right next to the entrance so there was heavy traffic and noise traveling in and out of the campground. This is obviously not highly desirable as it always seems to be available during high demand weekends.   We are going back this summer after selecting another site.  

One of the most spectacular things about this campsite is the accessibility to hiking trails including the fairly easy trail to McKemy Lake and Benton Falls.  McKemy Lake has a nice sandy beach and allows non-motorized boats.  We thoroughly enjoyed our time at Benton Falls. Though it was fairly busy, people were respectful and mindful of space.

Really looking forward to go back to this treasure!

While this campground is beautiful, the gate is still closed for the season. Website says it will open mid-April, so should be available soon!

Had such a good time here. Chad, the owner, was incredibly nice and a great host, helping us with whatever we needed. He runs Freedom Hills as a non-profit with a vision to bring climbers and the community together as well as helping those in need. His passion to benefit the community has certainly convinced me this will be my regular campground for the Obed.

This is a huge state park!  It seems overwhelming and crowded at first.  The campgrounds are massive, but the campsites are spread out just enough to make you feel like you are in a small campground.  Do some hiking!!!!  After a short hike away from the roads and you feel like you are in the middle of nowhere.  The views are spectacular!  We were there in April where the weather was perfect! 

A+

This is a terrific campground in the Cherokee Natl Forest.   Sites have electricity.   Water is accessible to fill tank before you park a camper.  The trails were wide and clean.

I live not far from here and we camped at site #3 we picked up so much trash in and around our site that it was sad.